Integrating Genealogy and Spreadsheets

Pam Riccardi-Paschke

I have been researching family history since I was in my early teens. And I have been in public accounting since graduating from the University of Florida. My goal is to transfer my accounting Excel knowledge to help you in your genealogy research and documentation. Improving and facilitating family history research is what this blog is all about.

Why spreadsheets?

Most of us think “word processing” when we think about our genealogy – after all, that is how we convey the results of our research. The truth is that spreadsheet software is a powerful tool for our research efforts. If gathering data – citation driven data – can be done in an easier and faster way, all of us will be better prepared to collaborate and solve research problems, and be in a position to support our conclusions.

Sure, we use spreadsheets to sort data and make lists, but Excel can help with so much more! My hope is that my blog will help you find ways to harness the power of Excel (or other spreadsheet programs) to efficiently capture information, including sources, as well as to expedite data retrieval and facilitate scholarly analysis. The more you know about Excel, the more you will be able to incorporate its power into your genealogical pursuits.

The explosion of original records that can be found from the comfort of our desks is daunting. We can accomplish so much so quickly! I started using Excel to capture data in a readily usable way that would (a) keep me from repeating my research and (b) make the results easily retrievable. And it had to be easy and fast, or it would end up like those scraps of paper I created years ago in my flash genealogy lunch time trips to the library or National Archives branch.

What about me?

When I was in Junior High, I found a photo album from the 1870s in my mother’s antique doll collection. My curiosity was piqued by notations of “Aunt Becky”, “Sister Ella”, “Barbara Smith”… But when I asked her who these people were, my mother’s reply was “I think I bought that at a yard sale.” Further prodding got her to admit to recognizing a few of the names, but she had no history to add. I wanted to know about these forgotten people! And thus my lifelong passion began.

My father’s parents arrived in 1920 from Sicily. My mother’s ancestors (as it turns out) were nearly all colonial American, with origins in England, Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Switzerland, Ireland, and Scotland. Before the Revolution, they were in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Between 1800 and about 1840, these lines all converged in Ohio.

After college, I lived in Ohio; and weekends and vacation days were spent at the Ohio Historical Society, courthouses, or libraries. Later, in Seattle, I enjoyed flash genealogical visits to the National Archives branch before work, or the Seattle Public Library during lunch. My genealogical pursuits have taken me to city and county courthouses, state archives, historical societies, libraries, strangers’ houses, churches, The National Archives, The Family History Library, and small towns in Germany and Sicily… I have traipsed through so many cemeteries, and searched through so many rolls of microfilm (in several languages)! Now it is such a luxury to search original records on-line, in the comfort of my home – and store copies on my computer. BUT!

To avoid being lost in all of this data, I started using Excel to retrieve and organize the information, as well as to keep track of where I’ve been, and to make my own research tools. I want to share with you some ideas I have on using spreadsheets to facilitate and improve your family history research.